When the Fire Dwindles
by Straight 'til Morning
Summary: When Artemis and Wally are teamed together on a mission, their constant bickering gets in the way, causing Artemis to be fatally hurt. In the weeks after, her health dwindles, leading the team members to expect the worst. But one person won't let his spitfire die out, he will fight for her till the end, do anything he can to make sure she stays alive.


**Takes place in first season, obviously before Wally and Artemis like each other. Somewhere after Wally becomes Fate.**

"Team! New mission." The words echoed through the halls. _Yes! Finally! I'm tired of sitting around. Time for some action._ Artemis thought, picking up her bow and quiver and heading to meet the others in the control room.

Everyone was already there, making Artemis the last to show up. "What, had to pull yourself away from looking at yourself in the mirror?" Wally asked, a smirk upon his face.

Artemis crossed her arms, once again annoyed by the speedster. "That would be you, Baywatch."

"Last time I checked I was here before you."

Artemis opened her mouth to start give another snide remark, but was stopped by Robin. "Shut it, the both of you." And so they did.

She knew the team got frustrated when she argued with Wally, but she got frustrated if he was even in the same room as her. He was so annoying, Artemis had never been annoyed by anyone else that much in her life! He got on her nerves, he was just so... just so... ugh! The thought of him made her mad. His very being her annoyed her.

Artemis frowned, keeping her arms crossed as she listened to Kaldur hand out orders to everyone. Kaldur paired himself up with Robin, M'gann up with Connor, and that left... that left her and Wally.

"Wally and Artemis, you'll be working with each other." The two opened their mouths at the same time, both ready to deny working with each other. They were stopped when Robin hushed them. "This is good for you. You two can get rid of your problems. No argument." He paused, waiting to see if either of the two would challenge his words. They did not. "Alright then. Artemis, Kid Flash, you two will sneak in and attempt to take out the Joker. Me and Robin are going to shut down the security, and Miss Martian and Superboy, you two will deal with all the henchmen. Clear?"

The team nodded in response to Kaldur's words, and they set off on their missions. The team had decided to travel separately in an attempt to not be caught; they would all be coming from different angles. Wally and her were the last to go, the same way Artemis had been the last to arrive. Wally grinned at her, and she frowned back at him.

Still grinning, he spoke. "So," He started, pausing before continuing for dramatic effect. "How do you plan to get there?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can drive." Artemis glared at him.

His grin widened, which seemed impossible to Artemis, since he was grinning as big as he could before. "We're fifteen, Artemis, we can't drive."

 _Stupid Wally and your good points._ "Well, how do you suppose we get there then?" She demanded, changing the conversation around to him.

She wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his freckled face. "I mean, I could always carry you."

 _No!_ "No way Baywatch. You would drop me." Artemis shook her head.

Wally frowned, and it actually seemed genuine. "No, I wouldn't. I promise. The others took all we have, it's our only choice anyways."

With a sigh, Artemis contemplated what could go wrong. _Well, he could drop me, which he assures he won't. But do I trust him?_ Strangely, Artemis did, trust him that is. She didn't think Wally would really drop her, she just didn't want him to carry her. Why? She wasn't exactly sure, but then again, she could go ahead and blame him like she always did, for whatever he did.

Like last time, when she'd gone to get a cookie and found Wally eating the last one. She'd wondered why he didn't save any for her, and then she realized, he didn't save any cookies because he was Wally West. Why did Artemis believe he would drop her? Because he was Wally West. It was an easy explanation really. Artemis found herself using it all the time to come up with why Wally did half the stuff he did.

"You better not drop me, Baywatch." Artemis warned, giving into Wally's plan. She wasn't excited for it, she was just waiting for something to go wrong. If he couldn't drop her, surely there was something else he would come up with to tease or annoy her about.

Wally's grin transformed into a smirk, and he quick sped over, picking Artemis up in his arm in less than a second, as if she was a piece of paper. "Ready for the ride of your life then, beautiful?"

Artemis rolled her eyes at his flirtatious attitude, not that it was anything special. The speedster hit on anything that was even remotely female, even, for example, if they were from a different planet. She knew he didn't mean it, he was still obsessing over M'gann; which annoyed both of them beyond belief. They always fought with each other about it, Artemis was just trying to get him to let go, because M'gann was obviously not interested in him. If she was, surely she would have given into those sparkling green eyes by now.

Wait, sparkling? When had she thought that? Wally's eyes didn't sparkle. They were just a bright green that clashed again his red hair and his freckles and... Artemis shook her head, trying to snap out of whatever she'd just been in.

"You okay there?" A concerned Wally asked, noticing her odd behavior.

Artemis quickly dismissed him with a nod. "Now let's go before the rest of the team finishes the mission without us."

"Whatever you say beautiful." And with that, Kid Flash was running out the door, holding Artemis in his arms, who was holding onto him as if her life depended on it. But it didn't. Wally West would never drop her.


End file.
